Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Sarah P. Long Expands Insurance Coverage Team at Payne & Fears

March 19, 2024 — Payne & Fears LLP
Sarah P. Long has joined Payne & Fears LLP as a Partner in the firm’s Insurance Coverage and Litigation Group. Sarah has represented clients in all aspects of insurance coverage and litigation and also focus on construction defect claims and litigation. Before joining Payne & Fears, Sarah was a partner at Koeller, Nebeker, Carlson, Haluck, LLP, where she represented many of the nation’s builders in construction defect actions and bad faith insurance coverage disputes for 17 years. Known for her dependability, efficiency, and creative problem-solving, Sarah always strives to secure the best results for her clients in the most efficient manner. “We are excited to welcome Sarah to P&F as we continue to expand and add depth to our Insurance Litigation Group. I have known Sarah in a professional and personal capacity for more than 16 years. She is well respected by clients and peers in the legal profession. She is a bright, efficient, and innovative attorney and a wonderful person,” said Sarah Odia, the group’s co-chair. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Payne & Fears LLP

English v. RKK. . . The Saga Continues

December 16, 2019 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
Remember back in 2018 when I thought I’d told you the end of the English Construction story regarding its various consultants, etc.? I was wrong. The matter went up on appeal to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals where the Appeals Court considered the summary judgment granted to the defendant Rummel, Klepper & Kahl (“RKK”) based upon what came down to a contributory negligence reading of the indemnity clause that was allowed to survive in the first district court opinion relating to these ambiguous contracts finding that English was negligent so couldn’t recover. The 4th Circuit also considered the finding that defendant CDM Smith did not breach its contract as a matter of law and that English’s negligence was the cause of the damages. The Court of Appeals reversed both of the holdings by the Western District of Virginia court, essentially stating that there was enough of a factual dispute to render any summary judgment to be premature. As to English’s arguments regarding the indemnity scheme in the contracts, the court found that the interpretation was at least ambiguous enough that summary judgment was inappropriate, stating:

While we are not prepared to settle conclusively these interpretation disputes at the summary judgment stage, English’s proffered interpretation is, at the very least. reasonable. Indeed, of the two interpretations, English’s seems to be more closely aligned with the actual language in the contract. The district court thus erred in rejecting English’s interpretation and adopting RK&K’s interpretation as a matter of law.

[A]t bottom, while the district court was authorized to construe unambiguous language as a matter of law, it could not resolve genuine disputes regarding the meaning of ambiguous contractual language against the nonmoving party on summary judgment. We therefore vacate the court’s grant of summary judgment to RK&K and remand for further proceedings.

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Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

Zillow Seen Dominating U.S. Home Searches with Trulia

July 30, 2014 — Alex Sherman, Jeffrey McCracken and Prashant Gopal – Bloomberg
A Zillow Inc. (Z) purchase of Trulia Inc. (TRLA) would create a dominant search website for U.S. house hunters, reshaping an online industry the companies helped popularize. Zillow, the largest U.S. real estate website, is seeking to buy No. 2 Trulia for as much as $2 billion in cash and stock, according to people with knowledge of the matter. An agreement may be announced as soon as next week, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Talks are ongoing and may not lead to a deal. The companies help buyers and renters find information on homes, generating revenue by selling advertising and charging Realtors to place their listings prominently. Together the Zillow and Trulia networks had more than 68 million unique visitors in June, representing about 71 percent of all visitors to ComScore’s real estate category. That includes desktop and mobile users, ComScore said. A combination would make it hard for rivals to compete, said Steve Murray, president of Real Trends Inc. in Castle Rock, Colorado. Mr. Sherman may be contacted at asherman6@bloomberg.net; Mr. McCracken may be contacted at jmccracken3@bloomberg.net; Mr. Gopal may be contacted at pgopal2@bloomberg.net Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Alex Sherman, Jeffrey McCracken and Prashant Gopal, Bloomberg

Hawaii Supreme Court Finds Excess Can Sue Primary for Equitable Subrogation

July 30, 2015 — Tred R. Eyerly – Insurance Law Hawaii
In responding to a certified question from the U.S. Distric Court, the Hawaii Supreme Court determined that an excess carrier can sue the primary carrier for failure to settle a claim in bad faith within primary limits. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Libery Mut. Ins. Co., 2015 Haw. LEXIS 142 (Haw. June 29, 2015). St. Paul, the excess carrier, and Liberty Mutual, the primary carrier, issued polices to Pleasant Travel Service, Inc. The primary policy covered up to $1 million. Pleasant Travel was sued for damages resulting from an accidental death. St. Paul alleged that Liberty Mutual rejected multiple pretrial settlement offers within the $1 million primary policy limit. A trial resulted in a verdict of $4.1 million against Pleasant Travel. The action settled for a confidential amount in excess of the Liberty Mutual policy limit. St. Paul paid the amount in excess. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Insurance Law Hawaii
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Policy Sublimit Does Not Apply to Business Interruption Loss

December 02, 2015 — Tred R. Eyerly – Insurance Law Hawaii
Refusing to give the sublimit in a flood policy an expansive reading, the court found that the sublimit did not apply to business interruption loss. Federal-Mogul Corp. v. Ins. Co. of Pa., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 137394 (E.D. Mich. Oct. 8, 2015). The insured's facility in Thailand was damaged by flood. The parties stipulated that the insured suffered a loss of $64,500,000, which included $39,406,467 in property damage and $25,093,533 in time element loss (i.e., economic loss due to an inability to operate normally). The insurer paid $30 million, stating that the High Hazard flood zone provision in the policy limited the amount owed under the policy. The insured argued the High Hazard sublimit applied only to physical loss or damage caused by the flood, and not to time element loss. Therefore, the insured was entitled to judgment on its time element loss claim for $29,093,533. The insurer argued it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law because the High Hazard sublimit applied to all loss caused by flood, including time element loss. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Insurance Law Hawaii
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Shea Homes CEO Receives Hearthstone Builder Humanitarian Award

February 12, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Bert Selva, Shea Homes CEO, received the Hearthstone Builder Humanitarian Award at the 2014 NAHB International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to Big Builder. Selva “has served for 11 years on HomeAid's board of directors,” and “is a big supporter of the nonprofit that works to provide housing for homeless families, victims of natural disasters, and veterans.” Furthermore, “Shea Homes has built eight HomeAid shelter projects valued at more than $5.2 million and has contributed nearly $850,000 to HomeAid and its chapters, making it one of the group's largest benefactors.” Not only does Selva actively support HomeAid, he also “serves as a national vice president of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.” "I ask myself, 'How would it feel if that were me or my family?'" Selva told Big Builder. "When you personalize it, it becomes a lot more real and that's the motivation for me." The award “includes recognition at an event during the 2014 International Builders' Show and a cash award to a charity of his choice.” Read the full story, Jennifer Goodman’s Article... Read the full story, John McManus’s Article... Read the court decision
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Best U.S. Home Sales Since 2007 Show Momentum in Housing Market

August 26, 2015 — Sho Chandra – Bloomberg
America’s housing market has been heating up this summer. Purchases of previously owned homes unexpectedly rose in July for a third straight month to reach the highest level since February 2007, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed Thursday. The gain was driven by stronger sales of single-family houses even as the share of first-time buyers shrank. A limited number of available properties is keeping prices elevated, giving homeowners the financial flexibility to trade up as their housing equity improves. The data and a recent report showing the strongest rate of residential construction since 2007 are consistent with the Federal Reserve’s view that the industry is making progress. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Sho Chandra, Bloomberg

Deadline Nears for “Green Performance Bond” Implementation

December 03, 2024 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
For this weeks Guest Post Friday at Musings, we welcome Surety Bonds.com, a leading online surety provider. SuretyBonds.com specializes in educating current and prospective business owners about local surety requirements. To keep up with surety bond trends, follow and Surety Bonds Insider blog and @suretybond on Twitter. Professionals who work in the construction industry know the laws that regulate the market change constantly. Unfortunately, even government agencies are flawed, which means they sometimes establish nonsensical, arbitrary regulations that leave construction professionals even more confused as to how they’re expected to do their jobs. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

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